"In orchestra, they said, ‘Here are some instruments you can pick from.’ I thought it [the upright bass] was like the electric bass and if I learned it in school, then I could apply it to my electric guitar. Public school orchestra is the reason I am playing the bass. It wasn’t just an individual, but the whole concept and the whole organization of high school orchestra. If high school orchestra wasn’t there then I probably wouldn’t have been introduced to this form of the bass and I wouldn’t be playing it."

MOST INSPIRING HIGH SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHER:"If I had to pick one individual, one year when I was at All-State Orchestra I had Alastair Willis [current music director for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra] as the clinician and he was really inspiring. He looked great, like one of the Beatles, and it was the first time I ever heard Bernstein’s West Side Story and Adagio for Strings. He was a real conductor, with good energy, who had beautiful and good things to say!”

ADVICE FOR PRACTICING: "Sometimes I practice 10 hours and sometimes I only practice for three hours. Practice as much as you need."

ADVICE FOR PERFORMING: "Think about WHY you are performing. Figure out the reason behind what you are doing and then focus on that while you are playing."